Dope will release their 6th studio album ‘Blood Money Part 1’ on October 28th via eOne Music, featuring the classic lineup of the band: Edsel Dope, Acey Slade, Virus and Racci Shay. The highly anticipated effort is Dope’s first album in seven years.
Drugs, sex and violence are front and center on Dope’s comeback effort ‘Blood Money Part 1’. The fact that this is a ‘part 1’ album is puzzling because if they have more material, and it’s as good as this chunk of tracks, then they’ve really hit their stride in a big way… I was blown away by how catchy and ferocious ‘Blood Money Part 1’ was. I was a little taken back to be honest, because although I grew up a fan of Dope (Who doesn’t have ‘Die Motherfucker Die’ on their workout playlist really?), I didn’t expect that much energy and drive to still be present from a band who came out of that nu-metal era so long ago when so many others faded away.
The title track is a hammer fist to the eardrums and the rest of the album follows suit. There are more radio-friendly(ish) songs like ‘Hold On’ but what I love about them is they aren’t throwaway tracks. Not in the slightest. The writing was quite strong on ‘Blood Money’ and singer Edsel Dope has done some of the best work of his career here in both performance and lyrical content. These songs sound truly pissed off and full of venomous vigor. If you liked Dope’s music before, you’ll adore them now and even if you weren’t a big fan, I urge you to give the guys a shot in 2016 because they are a band reborn.
To see a band like Dope still kicking ass on the road and on their latest record 20 years since forming, warms my heart. Also – my heart is warmed by listening to music that is balls to the wall heavier than shit chaotic hard rock. Blood Money Part 1 is a monster and in a year when many nu-metal bands of that late 90’s era are trying to stay relevant, Dope is one of the best – easily.
Rating: [star rating=”4.5″]
Dope: Blood Money Part 1 Tracklisting
01. Intro: Confessions Of A Felon
02. Blood Money
03. Shoulda Known Better
04. Lexipro
05. Hold On
06. 1999
07. Razorblade Butterfly
08. Drug Music
09. A New Low
10. Hypocrite
11. X-Hale
12. End of the World
13. Selfish
14. Numb
15. Violet